Little Trouble
by TheVoidsArtist
Summary: Maverick, Eagle and Striker are sent to scout out a newly found planet. The three marines decide to cover more ground by splitting up. What Maverick finds while separated from his squad is most certainly unexpected, but also extremely cute and is quite the little trouble-maker as well.
1. Seperated

Maverick, Striker and Eagle had been stationed to scout out a new planet that seems to have a breathable atmosphere. They were there to see if it was good enough to make a base on, to see if there were any inhabitants that they could maybe make a deal with and trade goods with.

They trekked through the thick vegetation of the large jungle-like terrain. Striker groaned as his boot sunk into a pile of mud he hadn't expected to be there, he wrinkled his nose in disgust, looking at the boot he'd have to clean-up later in order for it to look good-as-new again, "This place smells. We haven't encountered anything here, not anything smart, just a bunch of bugs that shouldn't be too hard to deal with. Lets just radio for a pick-up and tell them that it's safe to build bases here."

Maverick rolled his eyes, looking back at the male with an irritated look, "Listen, Striker, it's our job to see if this place is even safe, first of all, there could be things here and we don't know about them yet cause we haven't walked far enough." he argued, holding his assault rifle close to his form. Striker always was one to complain and try to get out of things easy, he wasn't like his older brother, Eagle.

Eagle was a mysterious man, always wearing a mask that covered his face, eye-holes showing his steel-y blue eyes. Only Striker had ever seen his face, but that was because they had grown up together. Striker wasn't as quiet and smart as his older brother, acting way too immature. If you were to compare them, you wouldn't even think that they were related.

"How about we split up? We'll cover more ground that way..." Eagle finally spoke up in his deep, monotone voice, turning around to face the two that looked ready to fight, his icy gaze challenging them to continue their spat. Maverick nodded, smiling wide.

"Seems like a good idea. Okay..." Maverick pointed at Striker then to the direction he wanted him to go in, doing the same action to Eagle but pointing to a different direction with his fore and middle finger.

"If something happens, we'll rendezvous back at drop point." Eagle mentioned before he began to make his way through the direction given to him. He was an Elite, but he respected Maverick enough that he could trust his judgments and calls. He hadn't gotten them killed yet.

"Fine... See you guys then." Striker shrugged, rolling his eyes as he turned on his heel and began to trudge through the thick brush, vanishing from sight in mere moments. Maverick stood, alone. He sighed before he began making his way through the terrain as well, listening to the sounds of bugs and birds making noises, along with twigs and branches crunching and crumbling into pieces under his weight.

This planet was weird, it was also uncharted and unclaimed. At least that was what he'd been told during the debriefing. It was warm, even when the sun wasn't shining in the sky. The weather seemed different, too, clouds hanging dreadfully in the sky one moment, causing a gust of wind, then, it would clear up, the sun shining in the blue sky once more. Freaky. Earth never did that, not so suddenly any who.

Maverick kept walking, taking notes of everything he saw. The giant foliage, bugs that seemed to be coloured with a variety of spectrum's from the colour wheel, he'd also seen a giant Monarch related butterfly fly past him too, feeling the wind beat off it's delicate, giant orange and black wings. It looked at him for a moment before flying off into the sky, joining a few others of its kind. Amazing.

He was just captivated by everything, the different shapes, species of small birds and bugs he began to see as he continued his walk through the jungle, making sure to watch for anything dangerous. Be it anything ranging from quick-sand, to a giant predatory creature. His hands grew tight on his rifle, just being cautions. He tensed up, hearing the birds stop their calls and the bugs coming to a silence.

He stopped, shutting his eyes as he let his ears pick up any sounds, there was something near, but what was it? He didn't know. Maverick pulled up his gun, beginning to scan the area with keen green eyes, looking for anything he may have needed to shoot if it got too close and dangerous.

He began to feel the ground rumble beneath him, birds beginning to fly off in all directions. A small form ran past him, looking to be some sort of a child, and that was when he spotted gigantic rhino-like beasts, roaring as they ran right towards him. Maverick dropped his gun and began to run, their horns reminded him a great deal of a triceratops, the way two extended from their foreheads menacingly, along with two large horns coming from the ridges of their noses.

They were smashing down everything in their paths, trees tumbling to the ground, large dead trunks being smashed under their mighty powerful feet. They let out the strangest noise as they continued their stampede, he could only relate it to a mix between a elephant and a jaguar. He didn't look back, looking back was never the best thing to do. He kept his eyes straight.

It was then that Maverick noticed the small child-like being that had bounded past him before the giant threats began pounding their way through, showing no sign of stopping. He picked up his pace, picking up the small child that seemed to have troubles trying to run, holding him close before they slipped down a hill, the large beasts stopping in their tracks and letting out a loud howling like cry.

Maverick held the child close to him as they rolled down the steep hill, he felt and heard a lot of his gear coming off of him and possibly breaking, like his walkie-talkie and his radio.

The rolling seemed to never stop, breaking through branches and small bushes that had made their homes in the side of the hill. He was relieved when it finally did stop, rolling onto his back so he wasn't crushing the child. He felt the grip, arms held tight onto his uniform, their face buried in his chest.

"Hey, kiddo, you okay?" Maverick whispered, sitting up. The child looked about three feet tall, give or take a few inches. Not to mention the skin on the kid was... interesting.

Slowly, the child looked up at him, and Maverick almost freaked out. The mandibles, the eyes... It was a Yautja. He'd never seen a child one of them before, but... It looked so innocent, the tiny little tusks that weren't even sharp that sprouted from it's... _His_ little mandibles, the tiny little teeth that looked to only begin to come in that reminded him of baby kitten's.

He was actually kind of cute, totally unlike the ruthless killers he had learned about when he joined the marines.


	2. Irritating

Maverick looked up at the hill once he got to his feet, hands placed on his hips as he squinted, trying to keep the sun out of his eyes. He looked down at the youngling after he scanned his surroundings, getting a gist of the area.

"What the hell were you doing, anyway? Why'd those things chase you?" he asked as he knelt down to the child's height, staring him down. The child's eyes were a bright orange with a hint of red near the iris, being more wide and full of curiosity than that of hatred and anger like many Yautja were supposed to be like, of course his dreadlock-like hair was actually really short and small, just like any creature's would be, along with small horn-like protrusions going around in a ring on his head near the edges and meeting just near his eye ridges. His skin colour was interesting as well, being a mix of light orange and a dusty brown. Basically, it was the shade of dirty-blonde to get a good idea about it. He was also only wearing a loincloth and a small necklace made out of different bones, to be specific, they looked to be small ribs and fingers of different species.

The suckling just stared at him with his wide eyes, they flicked around his facial features, seeming to be examining him closely. The child let out a soft, bird-like chirp as he grabbed onto Maverick's face, lightly tugging at it and smooshing the skin around.

Maverick grabbed the kid's hands, pulling them away as he maneuvered his jaw around, his cheeks hurting from being pulled like that. He sighed, obviously not going to get a straight answer. He stood up, turning away from the child. As soon as he did though, he was met with something colliding against his back, hands slamming down onto his shoulders as legs wrapped around his chest.

The small Yautja had hopped onto his back, riding him piggyback style. The child churred, looking around the area at his new height, seeming excited. Maverick rolled his eyes, grabbing his legs and attempted to remove them, but noticed they were wrapped tight, as if his life depended upon it. At least he wasn't that heavy, so he'd be easy enough to carry around without problems. He weighed as much as a nine-year old child would. Which, he'd had a lot of experience with, seeing as he had his own kid back home, a lovely daughter named Anna, that loved to ride on his back a lot because he was tall and strong, she was nine and he couldn't stand being away from him, going on dangerous missions made him worry sometimes.

"Well, alright then... I guess you can tag along until we find your parents... or whoever's taking care of you, kiddo. I just hope that they don't think I kidnapped you." Maverick mentioned as he began to walk, trying to find a better way back up the hill rather than having to try and walk all the way back up the tall hill. Maybe he could get to extraction point, it would just take him longer than scheduled.

And how was he going to explain the little tag-along he had with him? How would everyone react? Those kinds of questions ran through his head at the speed of sound as he walked, watching where he stepped once more. He grunted as he felt the child's hand slam down onto his helmet as he pulled himself up, legs now loosening their iron grip around his chest. The child chirped, mandibles twitching.

What was he doing now? Children were always so unpredictable, and it looked like it wasn't just human children that were that way, even alien kids acted just as wild and silly.

Maverick groaned once the Yautja began to smack his hands against his helmet, seeming amused at the sounds it made, playing it like it was a drum set.

"Hey! Kid!" Maverick stopped, shaking his head, getting fed-up already with him as he looked over his shoulder at him, "Knock it off, that's really irritating." he scoffed. The Yautja child stared at him, blinking twice before he let out a sad chirp, his hands retreating from Maverick's helmet to rest back onto his shoulders, his legs retaking their strong hold around his chest, "... Can you understand me? Or did you just do that because I was yelling at you?" he questioned, wondering if the smaller creature knew any English, or anything of his language.

The child stared at him blankly, giving him the deer-in-the-headlights look. Okay, yeah, he definitely stopped what he was doing because he heard the tone in his voice. How old was the kid anyway? He knew that Yautja could live for thousands of years, but did they take awhile to grow up? For all he knew, the youngling could have been three hundred years of age, or maybe he was only nine years. It was a question he could answer when he got back to the pick-up ship. Well, if he got back to the pick-up ship.

Maverick tried to keep up his spirits despite having lost his gun and almost all of his communication devices. As long as he didn't encounter anything dangerous, he was going to be golden. And if he did manage to meet the father and mother of the youngling, he'd have to be careful about how he worded his explanations so that they didn't end-up killing him.

He climbed over a fallen tree, the child chirping nonsense in his ear as he walked, leaning back every now and then as he just hung off of him from his legs like some sort of weird monkey. Their feet did remind him of monkey feet, what with having four toes and then a thumb-like appendage on the sides of their feet. They also had strange spur-like spikes on the back of their heel, it may have helped them with balance or grabbing onto things.

It was funny to see a Yautja act like that, kid or not. "All things wicked begin with innocence..." he mumbled the quote to himself, knowing that eventually, the innocent suckling would turn into a ruthless killer, collecting trophies just like the others of his kind. It sent shivers down Maverick's spine at the thought.

The Marine stopped for a moment, taking off his helmet as he wiped away some sweat that began to collect at his brow. It was hot, and it looked as though the sun was just starting to go down further. Night time was at least two or three hours away now, he hoped to get to the pick-up point before then, not really wanting to know what this planet was like at night.

He was just nervous that there would be nocturnal beasts that would emerge from their hiding spots and find the duo. All Maverick had for defense was a long knife, it was close to a machete, but not quite the same.

He sat down near the base of a nearby tree. The child jumped off his shoulders and hugged his arm tight, resting his lower jaw on his shoulder as he stared at him, letting out soft clicks. Maverick grinned, then spoke slowly, "I'm-" he pointed to himself, "tired." the child looked a little upset, seeming to understand him. He sat down beside the adult as he crossed his legs and leaned against him, small arms crossed.

The Marine patted the young one's head, earning a soft purr, even though he looked angry about Maverick's tiredness.

"I really need to think of a nickname for you... I think I'll go with Radar for now until I can come up with something better."


	3. Pick-Up

Maverick stood up after resting for a good thirty minutes, stretching his tired limbs before he looked to Radar, watching the child quickly stand up and grab tight onto his arm. God damn, even though he was so tiny, he had a python grip.

The Marine sighed, beginning to lead the youngling through the dense jungle-like biome, making sure that he helped Radar the best he could when walking over large logs or going through dense foilage. Eventually, the suckling got fed up with walking and climbed onto Maverick's shoulders once again, taking a little nap once he did so. Kind of cute, in a weird way.

He sighed, checking the sky. It was getting darker by the minute now, the stars coming out to play and dance around the darkness. He groaned, hoping that the pick-up ship would stay a little bit longer if he managed to get to the extraction point as quick as he could. There was no-way he was that far from it. Unless he had ran a lot more than he thought.

But, it seemed like it was easy enough to get lost in the jungle. Not to mention Maverick's compass decided it didn't want to work, the needle not moving no matter where he faced it. He grumbled, why did nothing have to work? Why did he just so happen to fall down a hill that caused everything of his to just stop and break?

He stopped and climbed up on to a dead, tall tree stump to get a better view of the area. Not too far away, he saw a set of lights in the approaching darkness. It was the pick-up point, he found it! It was then he felt Radar's grip around him tighten, hearing him let out distressed chipping sounds as he shook his head to and fro. Maverick lightly patted his small hand in an attempt to make him wake.

"Hey! hey, Radar, wake up!" he whispered, feeling a bit concerned about the young one. Radar woke up, letting out a long whine, mandibles flaring out. He looked ready to start crying. So, that proved something he didn't know about Yautja's, they could have dreams and nightmares too. They really weren't that different from humans, well in certain aspects. "Don't worry, I'm here. Nothing's going to hurt you." he smiled at the child over his shoulder.

Radar suddenly buried his tiny face into Maverick's shoulder, once more letting out a soft whine like whatever was in his dream was going to get him in real life. The Marine sighed, once again checking his surroundings.

_Whoosh!_

Maverick quickly turned around, alert and ready, pulling out his knife. He heard something, he knew it. Slowly, he climbed off the top of the stump, backing up quietly. He needed to get to the extraction point, and he wasn't going to let any nocturnal creature stop him.

He heard a low hissing, then, a rapid beating of bug wings. A dark creature landed on top of the stump in a crouch position, slowly standing up. It snarled then let out a loud hissing roar. It was a Xenomorph, with a pair of giant insectoid wings. As if Xenomorphs on foot weren't bad enough!

The young Yautja let out a growl, swatting at the other alien with his small hand, his mandibles flared out as he chirped at it. Maverick took a deep breath in, watching as the flying alien slowly climbed down the stump, tail lashing wildly from side to side.

The Marine couldn't think straight, his thoughts going a million miles a minute. To run, or to try and fight? It seemed much more logical to run, and that was exactly what he did. He heard the Xeno roar, taking off into the sky.

He bolted towards the lights, jumping over foliage and whatever else came into his path. He heard Radar letting out loud, panicked chirps, feeling him leaning back to check where the Xeno was at. Maverick didn't dare look back, hearing the rapid beating of the insect-like wings just right behind him.

He jumped into the small clearing, so glad to see the pick-up ship along with a few other Marines with guns. The Xenomorph screeched, flying up into the sky before attempting to dive down onto Maverick.

"Shoot it! Shoot it now! That's an order!" he called out, looking up at the approaching set of jaws that were opening, the second jaw getting ready to shot into his skull. Time had seemed to almost slow down, the flying death getting closer to him, arms stretching out. He felt himself trip over his own feet just as the giant insectoid was shot, colliding into the ground away from Maverick rather than landing onto him and causing his death.

Radar let out a happy chirp, clapping his tiny hands as he got off of the Marine, looking down at him. He pulled on his arm, like he was trying to make him stand up. Maverick flipped over onto his back, quickly patting his body to make sure he was still there.

Eagle and Striker ran over, looking down at him, Eagle let out a soft chuckle, "Almost Xeno-chow, Mave. Be lucky I'm a good shot."

"You're an Elite, I don't doubt your accuracy..." Maverick grinned at the male, sitting up. Radar let out a happy chirp, hugging the Marine tightly, nuzzling his head into his chest.

Striker let out a surprised yelp, pointing his gun at the small being, "What the fuck is that thing!?"

Maverick quickly put his arms around the young Yautja protectively, hugging him tight as he sneered at Striker, "It's a Yautja, obviously." he rolled his eyes, standing up, the child hanging from him like a monkey. Radar looked at the other two for a second before burring his head back into Maverick's chest, "He's just a child, don't go pointing your guns at kids. They don't kill our children, we should at least show we're not monsters to them and respect their rules too." he nodded, patting Radar on the head.

Eagle seemed to almost crack a smile behind his mask, "So, what's his name? You gave him a nickname, right?"

"Yeah, it's Radar. At least I'm calling him that until I think of a better name." Maverick shrugged, walking to the pick-up ship. Striker and Eagle followed behind him, their guns pointed to the ground.

They entered the Pick-up, the soldiers that laid inside pressing buttons as they took off, exiting the atmosphere of the planet and returning to the large spaceship that hung just above the planet in orbit. Maverick held the young Yautja close, noticing that Radar had become much more curious about all the buttons and flashing lights within the smaller ship.

"You just stay close to me, do you understand me? Don't go running off."


	4. Explanations

"Now docking with the Naritle." one of the pilots spoke up, looking back at the three Marines, then to Maverick's little friend, "...I hope you're prepared to explain... _that thing_ to Harris... He won't be too thrilled, you know how much he hates that race."

"Don't worry, Jar... It'll be okay." Maverick nodded, patting Radar on the shoulder gently, causing the youngling to let out a soft trill, looking up at him, "I just hope he'll understand. Plus, this one's a child, what damage could he do?" he muttered, picking up the young Yautja and setting him on his shoulders as he stood up, getting ready to depart from the pick-up ship.

The group waited till the door opened so they could board the large spacecraft, getting ready to talk to the General about what they had seen on the planet, and if it was a good place to place colonies on. Maverick felt a bit weird, noticing a few of the others were staring at him and Radar.

Radar chirped loudly, looking around at all the bright buttons and lights. He wiggled, managing to hop off of Maverick's shoulders as he began to run around, looking at all the pretty lights, his small hands reaching to press each and every one of them. But, Eagle quickly swooped him up and stared at him threateningly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." he spoke softly, holding his head up high before he set the child down. Radar stared at him for a minute before he ran over to Maverick, grabbing onto his leg as he buried his small face into it, letting out distressed chirping sounds. The Marine narrowed his eyes at the other, then sighed, picking Radar up, only to have him bury his face into his chest, tiny hands grabbing his shirt roughly to hold onto it.

"Eagle... Please. You scared him." Maverick whispered.

"If nobody stopped him he was going to fuck something up." Eagle simply retorted, shrugging his shoulders, "Those buttons aren't meant for kids to play with. If he hit the wrong one, something might blow up or malfunction and we'd be sitting ducks."

"You know what you should have named him, Maverick? Little Shit. Because that's what he is, a troublesome little _shit-head_..." Striker laughed, looking at the small Yautja as he crossed his arms over his chest. Radar made an upset face at him, his tiny mandibles flaring out as he let out the cutest little chirp-roar, sounding like a baby Cheetah. He probably intended it to be much more scarier than that, seeing as he looked very disappointing in himself before he planted his face back into Maverick's chest. Striker tried to resist bursting into tears from a laughing fit, "I can't believe that's what they sound like when they're babies! I know all great predatory creatures sound like other animals in order to stay alive when they're young, but that's just priceless!"

Maverick sighed, rolling his eyes at his group partners before he looked at Striker, gesturing with his head to follow him even though he just insulted the young being. They had to go talk to the General about what they'd seen. Personally, Maverick wasn't all for making a base on that planet, what with the flying Xeno's and those weird rhino creatures. Plus, it seemed like the Yautja had also claimed it, at least that was how he felt. After all, you don't just find a random baby of an alien specie on a planet without the parentals being there first. He was certain that the suckling had been separated from his mom or dad when those things decided to attack, or stampede.

Maverick gulped, allowing Eagle and Striker to be the first ones into the room before he entered, the small being in his arms now peeking around the office, but kept his face close to the older's chest.

Harris was standing near the window, looking down at the lush green planet. He knew they were there, but was collecting his thoughts for a moment before he turned around. Harris was older, way older than anyone in the group, his left arm missing, an eye-patch over his right eye and a large scar trailing over from cheek to cheek, going just over the bridge of his nose. He gave Maverick the stink eye before looking to the small being he was holding.

"...What the hell is that, Marine?" Harris growled out. Harris had a vendetta against the Yautja, for it was them that had left him how he was. He had managed to be the lone survivor of their attack on a base that was abandoned long ago, when he was just the same age as Striker.

Maverick stood tall, feet together as he had a small staring contest with the General. "Sir. I found him on the planet while I was scouting in my sector, a giant herd of these rhino-like things were stampeding, causing me and the young one to flee. I was planning on leaving him there, but... He decided to jump onto my back and stick around with me, Sir." he explained, his grip around the tiny being tightening.

Radar squeaked, looking up at Maverick, wide eyes filled with curiosity. He chirped, trying to grab at his face, causing Maverick to hold the youngling out, little arms extended as he made grabby-hands at him, making distressed and sad cries. Striker gave a soft chuckle as he glanced back at the male. Harris drove his icy gaze to the younger Marine.

"What are you laughing at, Striker?" he barked.

"Uh... Sir, I was laughing at Maverick's misfortune with his small friend... sir." he tried to keep a straight face, but a smile kept appearing on his lips. Eagle rolled his eyes, looking to know what the General was about to say.

Harris rolled his eyes as well, "When we're done with this, you owe me one lap around the ship. Now, at ease. Tell me what you all saw."

Eagle gave his report first, saying that he had encountered many things that were not hostile in the least bit, giant bugs, a few big, predatory birds, and one flying Xenomorph. Two if he counted the one that chased Maverick. Striker reported almost the same thing, only he saw the giant rhino-beasts that chased Maverick and Radar while they were at rest, being calm and gentle things. Then, there was Maverick, who handed Radar to Eagle as he explained what had happened and what he saw.

Radar didn't seem too happy about being set with Eagle, he kept trying to get away from him, wiggling, trying to bite him with his little nubs for teeth, pounding his tiny arms into his chest like he was throwing a little fit. Which, in a way, he was.

Harris kept looking to the small being, not exactly seeming happy to have it in his office. Maverick sighed, scratching the back of his head. "...Sir, I apologize for not giving any heads-up about bringing Radar aboard, I couldn't leave the poor guy there without his parents around. I'm not sure how their kind raise their young, so, I'm not sure if that little guy was going to make it. I promise, he'll only be here for a little while, then he'll be out of your hair, Sir." he reasoned, trying to talk the male into keeping the tiny being aboard at least for a week.

"...Fine. It can stay. Just get it off my ship when you're able to, do you understand?" he grumbled, shooting a glare to the small creature that Eagle was now holding upside-down, that seemed to oddly calm him down. Probably because he didn't understand what was going on and how he was like that. He chirped and grabbed at Maverick, a happy look on his face when they were dismissed.

Maverick took Radar from Eagle, holding him up-right now. Radar shook his head, probably getting a rush from all the blood going from his head down back to his body. "... I gotta find your parents soon, little guy, I don't know exactly how to care for Yautja kids..." he stuck a finger near Radar's mouth, gently prodding one of his upper mandibles. Radar grabbed his finger and brought it to his maw, lightly biting down on it, looking like he was trying to chew the appendage off. He smiled and rolled his eyes at the youngling, the tiny teeth tickling more than hurting.

"You're hungry I bet. I'll get you something from the cafeteria."


	5. Chit-Chat

Maverick walked to the cafeteria. It looked like it was dinner time, due to most of the Marines on-board the big ship had gotten their food and sat down to eat, chatting about whatever could come to mind. He walked down a short flight of stairs, beginning to make his way over. He was stopped by a sudden calling of his name.

"Hey! Maverick!" a woman smiled, walking up behind him, "I was wondering when you'd get back."

Maverick smiled, "Nice to see you, Blue."

Blue was a woman that was the same exact age as him, she had a pretty little face, deep chocolate eyes, and her brown hair was always held back in a long ponytail. She wasn't bad looking, if he wasn't married, he would of probably ask her to marry him. Maverick had been her friend ever since she had joined the Marines, she was one of the few people that were chosen to work on the deck, navigating where the large ship went.

"So, what are you... what the hell is that?" Blue looked down slightly, her eyes widening as she stared at the small being in Maverick's arms that was still looking to be trying to bit his finger off. Radar stopped, looking up at Blue, also with wide eyes. He grunted then reached for her, letting out little chirps in an excited manner. Maverick tried to not drop him, instead leaning forward some to try to keep him within his grasp.

"I think Radar wants you to hold him..." Maverick chuckled, looking up at her. Blue took a step back, shaking her head.

"I don't think so...You know I hate kids..." she made a disgusted face at the young being, not seeming as amused as he was.

"Come on, he's actually not that bad." Maverick shrugged, then looked around, "Hey, I'm going to get some food for him and me; why don't you go sit down and I'll join you soon." he questioned, cocking his head to the side as he tried to get Radar to hold onto him once more, seeing as Blue wasn't going to be carrying him anytime soon.

"..Fine, but keep that thing away from me..." Blue muttered.

"His name's Radar. Well, it is until I think of a better name." Maverick said.

"Whatever... Just, don't be long, okay?" Blue poked his nose before walking back over to the table she had been sitting at with two of her other friends. Maverick shook his head, chuckling. He made his way over to the food court area, picking out easy foods that Radar would be able to eat, and foods for himself. He did take note of the looks he got, carrying the little one around, even though right now Radar was just handing off of him, tiny but strong arms wrapped securely around his neck, but not enough to choke him. Radar had made small chirps, often pointing to some of the foods that were offered and making grabby hands at it, in which Maverick had to tell him no, he'd probably hurt himself trying to down it.

He sighed, bringing the small child over to the table. He sat him down on a chair and sat in the one next to the youngling so he could keep his eye on him. He placed the foods he had chose for Radar down in front of him, watching as he grabbed the cups filled with a weird meat-paste, that was actually kind of delicious all by itself, and examining them. He didn't figure that Yautja were vegetarians, so it only seemed right to get him something that was meat-like.

Maverick had just picked out simple things, a salad, a small bag of chips and a turkey and ham sandwich. He was about to talk with Blue and her friends when the other two snorted, trying to hold back snickers. He blinked, then looked at Radar only to see the youngling had managed to spill the tiny cups with the meat-paste all over his head. He was staring up at Maverick as if he was expecting him to clean him up.

"You better take care of the baby, Mave. Looks like he's about ready to cry." Blue giggled, drinking some of her water. The young one just let out a loud chirp, smacking his tiny hands on the paste, his mandibles spreading as he stuck half oh his hand into his mouth like any baby would when they were eating, trying to eat all the pudding-like substance off of himself.

"I'd say he's handling himself just fine... I may need to give him a bath later though so he doesn't smell like rotten meat." Maverick chuckled, looking at Blue. He smiled, "So, Blue, how have you been? I haven't been able to see you around as much." he decided to change the subject, not exactly feeling up to have a talk about the baby Yautja.

"Ah, yeah, sorry about that. I've been good, I've had to stay up in the control room for awhile, punching in coordinates, all that fun stuff... So, how was the planet? I bet it was really nice. I wanted to go, but of course I couldn't. Hmph." she puffed out a cheek, drinking once more from her water.

"Yeah, our captain has been working us like bees." Needle, one of Blue's friends spoke up.

"Not exactly very fun, seeing as this part of the galaxy has a lot of asteroids in it and all. Navigating through them's a pain." Ozzy, the other man sitting at the table chimed in.

"Hm... Oh, yeah, about the planet. It's not that bad, the air's pretty breathable, there's large bugs everywhere, and weird rhino creatures... and uh.. oh yeah, there's fuckin' flying Xenomorph's down there too. I almost got my skull chomped off by one of them, luckily, Eagle saved me." Maverick explained casually, giving a shrug, "Other than that, it's a decent planet. Don't know if it'd be good to put a base there or not, though. It seems like a risk..."

"A risk you know Harris is going to take. We need to get as many planets as we can to have bases on them. What with an up-coming war..." Blue sighed.

"What?" Maverick cocked his head.

"Oh... Uh... The Yautja have decided that, since we've been moving in on 'their territory', putting bases where there shouldn't be as they say, that it's a good time to start to push us back down to only having Earth and the planets we first found, you know; Jupiter, Mars, Saturn... I think it's bullshit." Blue shrugged, finishing off her water, "and so, they're planning on infiltrating and destroying our bases, but little will they know we'll be ready for them... We'll take them all out. Wipe that damned race of killers off their planet!"

Radar stopped eating, his small eyes going as wide as saucers. He gave a sad chirp, looking up at Maverick. Maverick frowned, "... The Yautja still have more advanced technology, who knows, maybe they're going to be too much of a challenge for us..." he reasoned.

Blue shook her head, smiling, "Nah. We're working on something top-secret, it'll force all their weapons and ships unusable, making them easy to kill off."

Radar sounded distressed, as if he could understand what Blue was saying and was trying to reason with her about it. Blue snorted, waving her hand at the small creature, "Maverick, can you... leave that thing somewhere else? Just looking at it makes me sick."

"Him, Blue, Radar's a him." Maverick huffed, picking up the small being that was still covered in paste before he grabbed his sandwich and chip bag. "I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me." he scoffed before walking away from the table, feeling a bit... agitated.

Maverick sighed, pacing around the small room. Radar was sitting in a large, fluffy towel on the Marine's bed, letting out happy chirps as he rolled around with it, he had just taken a bath and seemed extremely happy about the warmth of the towel, which didn't really surprise Maverick, Radar's kind wasn't exactly the easiest to understand, but he knew they liked warm and hot things, relishing how it feels against their skin, it was freaky. They could touch burning hot metal and it wouldn't effect them.

"You like that towel, little buddy?" he asked, even though he was certain the creature couldn't understand. He was wrong. Radar stopped rolling, looking up at him before he squeaked, nodding his head quickly, the tiny dreadlocks that were protruding out of his skull waving around slightly with his motions. "...So you can understand me? That means you understood what Blue was talking about..."

The youngling shrugged, chewing on the white, fluffy towel now. Maverick sighed, patting him on the head before sitting down, hanging his head slightly. Radar chirped, nuzzling his head into the Marine's side as he purred. Maverick smiled, using a single finger to pet the young Yautja. He was so cute, it wasn't fair.

"I wish I could keep you... but, I gotta get you back to your parents... or whoever was looking after you..." Maverick mumbled, watching as the smaller being rested his head on his lap, curling up to go to sleep. The Marine smiled, gently rubbing the small one's back to help him get to bed. "You can only survive seven days in an environment that's more for humans without your mask... I'll have to switch the air in this room to be more suitable for you when I leave, I can't have you running around with me, Radar... Nobody really likes your kind here... I'm just glad I convinced Harris to let me keep you instead of putting you back down on that damn planet... I don't think I could have done that, you're just a baby."

Radar let out a small purr, nuzzling into Maverick's lap some, looking to already be asleep. He sighed, continuing to run the small one's back, the towel was like a tiny blanket for the alien being.

"I just hope your parents don't murder me on sight, that wouldn't send a very god message... I know I'm not exactly the best kind of guy, but... I'm trying."


End file.
